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Now, council finance bosses will have their calculators busy working out the cost of any final deal.

Word is they are anxious about the proposal. As are other council staff and departments who fear the refuse collectors may be getting preferential treatment as they did after the 2008 and 2011 strikes.

And as the Unite union was sending out a triumphant press release hailing a victory for its members, the council was saying nothing has changed until the Labour cabinet says it has and that will be at an emergency meeting next Thursday.

The real world turns, but officialdom won’t notice until a detailed report on its turning has been signed off and formally ratified.

And the word is that is by no means a given.

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Birmingham Bin Strike

There are also a great many areas for the dispute to flare up again – five-day working, new responsibilities and an end to overtime were all things which initially angered the binmen before the issue became focused on the 113 grade three staff whose jobs were being downgraded.

Aside from this there are also grudges and enmities forged in the heat of the conflict which will not be easily forgotten. The crews could be downing tools again very quickly.

The Tories and Lib Dems, who are stockpiling images of bins piled high for next year’s election material, have now accused the Labour leadership of humiliating climb-down.

And ideological fundamentalists, who have, of course, leapt on a simple industrial dispute as the front line in a class war , will be disappointed it has not triggered the revolution.

It feels like a very fragile situation, there are still opportunities for it all to go wrong and many waiting to pounce when it does.